Pho 32 & Shabu

Pho 32 & Shabu was a cool spot. We were just passing by searching for an awesome Pho spot. I checked out Yelp and decided we should take a chance on this place because some of the reviews were really good, so we did. We actually ended up going back a second time, we were so happy.

With Pho I usually get my normal Chicken with glass noodles. The spicy sauces they served were decent; Siracha of course but one that seemed to be that mixed with something very spicy. We also tried the pork and shrimp vermicelli bowl.

Served with the usual fixings: Siracha, plum sauce, a spicy red sauce, fish sauce, bean sprouts, jalapeno s sliced, lime and cilantro. No basil which was a little odd to me, but that was okay.

The food was flavorful, perfect temperature and hit the spot; both times.

The inside of the place is pretty neat: they have a personal burner at each place setting on the tables, which seems like it could potentially become quite dangerous, but very neat. The service is totally "meh" in fact it may be a little worse than that, but it was alright for us.

DBGB Kitchen

A recent trip to the Big Apple took me to some of New York City's finest eateries. DBGB Kitchen was among these hot spots. My fiance is a well respected local chef in Healdsburg and is always yearning for some  culinary inspiration. Nothing more than simple perfection can be used to describe this place.
From the wittiness of the server whose red curly locks suggests she a NYC hip trendsetter and not only enjoys what she does but also dines in her backyard.The bartender and his pride for mixology; he carried out my Manhattan and expressed to me he had no more Maker's Mark Bourbon but that he recommends Woodford Reserve. Yes, please! I giggle each time I recall that experience when he not only brought out my Manhattan but knelt beside our booth and waited patiently and eagerly while I took my first sip- I confidently gave him a genuine *thumbs up smile*.
To the unbelievably inexpensive Prix Fixed menu ($27) which included their famous burgers, your choice of three.
To the inside of the dinning room where you gaze up into a shrine of culinary brilliance: the copper pots and pans donated to the design of the restaurant by some of the worlds finest chefs.
See the restrooms lined with the measurement descriptions and conversions, knife descriptions, silverware explanations and the know all of cooking from a French culinary guide. The paper lining the restrooms are not only from a book but appear to be spilled on and soiled as though used by a renowned chef day in and day out- I fantasized that the one and only great Julia Child left her collections to such a project.
Taste the knowledge of the Sommelier through the ongoing list of micro brews that were carefully selected based on how well they would pair with the food.
Indulge in the brilliance of Daniel Bulud and his team. For a whopping $27 one can walk away feeling taken care of, spoiled with a fantastic meal and like we had just eaten at one of  New York's finest restaurants- which is all true.
I ordered the Frenchie Burger: confit tomato, arugula, morbier cheese,
confit pork belly, bacon and black pepper bun (house made). A good rule of thumb is: Bacon makes everything better. It's very true. So if it isn't enough to stick to that, try dabbling in this: Pork belly makes bacon better. Forget the cheese and the house made bun; you've got beef, pork belly (confit pork belly, no less) And bacon! Okay, don't forget the cheese or the bun. This burger is dynamite. A true expression of culinary creativity.
Great fries. Fresh, crisp on the outside and nice a soft inside. Lightly salted.
Black forest cake, phenomenal. Presentation is so thought out, the
flavors are balanced. After a filling meal, the last part- desert just cannot be missed, it's beautifully done and every bite mirrors the image; perfection.

Truth be told, I know food, I am passionate about it anyway.

The Wurst

The Wurst is anything but... the dogs are inspired by the owners hometown, Detroit.

The place can be a little overwhelming at first. There is a large menu above the front counter, a gal behind the counter taking orders and depending on the time of day, several gals walking through the line taking orders, so you have to be quick and know what you want.There is a lot to choose from on the menus with the selection of dogs and then your choice of sides: sauerkraut, hot peppers, grilled onions.
I recommend going in and grabbing a menu, stepping aside and taking it all in. There are many dogs to choose from: pork, chicken apple, coney island, plain, chilli dog and the list goes on because it changes. Then there are burgers. I really feel that this is by far the best burger I have had in Sonoma County. If you are a reader, you may recall I have an undying love for the The Underwood restaurant in Graton, and their burgers have long been my favorite. Then there was P/30 whose pickles alone tickled my palate and buns wrapped over the patty like blankets, there was no sliding or dripping, I was torn between the two. Now, I must say, Wurst's Smash Burger" is succulent, grass fed beef flavored with spices, the cheese is perfectly melted, the special sauce they have created gently wipe the bun with holds a bit of a nostalgic memory for me; like a thousand island dressing but "upscale" and the pickles, well, the pickles are tart and sweet at the same time and just thick enough that each bite is crunchy and satisfying. There is also the BBQ slaw burger that they use the Murphy-Goode's  (the wine tasting room right next door) Liar's Dice Zinfandel BBQ Sauce.
The buns are potato and fit each sausage perfectly and hold the burgers in nicely. The buns themselves are full of flavor and are oh so fresh. The burger itself is so tender and fresh that along with the bun, this experience can be somewhat messy. Well, extremely messy actually. But it is well worth it.

Everything is a la carte so order yourself some fries or onion rings, they are tasty. There is a selection of dipping sauces for those: truffle is by far, the best!

They serve a lot of locals so why not serve local product? They do, wherever they can. All the sauces were created with the help of former Starks Reality Restaurants Chef, Tracey Shepos. Their selection of micro brews are pretty good and they change them fairly frequently. My top favorite brews they carry (of course with the influence of Tim) are Racer 5, Little Sumpin' and Anderson Valley's Boont.

I highly recommend visiting Wurst. It's good for kids and families. A great place to dine outside and people watch.

The cost of lunch for two with a beer each: $37. which includes
Smash burger
regular dog *add cheddar
Boont beer
Little Sumpin beer

Who doesn't want to eat a Moustache cupcake?!

Moustache Baked Goods is a great addition to Healdsburg. The little cakes are pricey to say the least, but damn good. The pumpkin whoopie pie was creamy, moist, rich and delicious. The caramel cupcake with sea salt on top- amazing. I could sit and eat those all day long instead of going to Starbucks for a salted caramel mocha.... The owner is a delight. He is charming and genuinely happy to be right where he is. I hope this places does well. I know $3 for a cupcake is a lot of loot but its not much worse than spending $12 on a cocktail. Its artistry.

Across the street from my best friends beautiful Santa Cruz home is this little gem, delicious brunch place: Harbor Cafe. A place where happy people come to be happier, if that's at all possible. The food is everything you could want in a burger or sandwich. The fries even come in polenta style or regular. I myself, did not dig the polenta fries, however, was glad I tried them! Mimosa Molly, our server was the star of the show. Molly was a "little fairy of goodness" who brought us ever lasting mimosas..until 2:00pm (when they closed :-). The cafe is one of my favorite spots in downtown Santa Cruz and I recommend it to everyone who wishes to nurse an enjoyable evening prior or simply wants to experience the kindness of Mimosa Molly!

A French Disconnect

I was very much looking forward to Chez Spencer since I had such an amazing experience last time. My love and I met old friends and they love it there too. We arrived and we were told we were 15 minutes early in a funky toned voice. That's cool, we knew that and we were going to wait. They couldn't hang on to our bottles of wine we brought. I finally had to ask the bartender to chill one for us while we sat at the bar and waited for the rest of our party. He was not exactly thrilled to be there. As I think back the only one who seemed like he wanted to be there was the one male server assistant who did not know what he was doing because he was probably new :( It was really odd, when we were ready to sit I went over to the hostess and let her know then we all just kind of stood there looking at each other (her included), she kept repeating that we could just hang out at the bar if we wanted, after I repeated that we would like to sit at our table, LOL.

So we sat and well, I could just complain about the service until my hands turn blue from typing so I won't. Service seems to be a huge problem over the last few days all around. The food was just fine. Foie Gras was to die for. Scallops were alright. The duck was over cooked and bland. It is Liberty Duck which tends to be more difficult to mess up but apparently it happens. We had to ask for our wine to be opened (seems to be a theme for this weekend). Quite possibly service staff dislike when consumers bring in their own wine because they think that cuts in to their tip since there would not be as much alcohol sold. This was not the case with us since three out of five were drinking wine while the other two were ordering drinks.

There was not a whole lot of space on our table of five people so when I told the server my boyfriend and I were sharing but she did not need to bring another plate she was rude. Half way through our meal, she was at the bar (having a staff "end of shit" drink?) and then was gone. So...no server now?

For a special restaurant that is very nice in the style of the place, the menu and the perception; this night was bunk. With the economic troubles everyone is going through, restaurants should nurture the patrons they have because one would think it is word of mouth and now social media that will spread news and tell people where the great places are. People are becoming more picky when they spend their money now. At the same time after going out more and more I am beginning to wonder if the staff in restaurants are taking their jobs less seriously because there is always something else if it does not work where they currently are....

Carneros Bistro: To eat or not to eat breakfast....

I frequent the Carneros Bistro and always enjoy it. I keep it on my "nice, high-end food and wine restaurant" list so naturally all of those restaurants are higher priced. I made reservations for my guy, best friend and myself for this morning. They seemed a bit busy when we arrived; we waited a few minutes, no biggie. Our server came over to us after a few minutes (about 8) of us seated. I saw on the menu the "table side Bloody" for $12, I Thought I ordered that when I ordered a Bloody Mary but that is not what I got... so it was alright. I asked our bus boy for Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce and he was so sweet (Balti was his name) he pulled out a mini Tabasco bottle from his pocket and made us all laugh. I asked for the L and P's and he must have over heard me say "I won't be a pill and ask for horseradish" because he came back with a little ramekin with L and P's mixed nicely into the horseradish. Nice.

I ordered the Carneros Bistro Eggs Benedict, looking very forward to delicious poached eggs and the sweet potato hash. I was finished with one when I realized I was so hungry I dug in without noticing there was no hash and it was ham. So it was wrong. Not only was it wrong, the eggs were over cooked and the holidaise sauce was broken and glazed over as though it sat under the heat lamp for a few minutes (and possibly the eggs were cooked right and they sat too long and became hard), potatoes were hard, dry and gross. They were obviously made for the buffet and dried out since it starts at 7:30 and we were there at 10:30am.

My best friend ordered the Petaluma eggs and sausage which comes with toast. The server never brought the toast. The eggs were hard and dry and they looked and tasted like they sat out in a hotel pan for an extended amount of time.

My guy ordered the brioche french toast. There was not batter. It was like grilled bread. They either dipped it very quickly in runny egg batter or only part of it; whatever the case it was completely half done and not worth $12.

My guy mentioned to our server that my order was wrong and that my friend never received her toast. she pulled out her pad and said "oh, I thought you said Classic Benedict". Well I know I mumble sometimes but I am pretty sure that when I said "I would like the Carneros Bistro Eggs Benedict Please" that is so clear and not possibly mistaken for "Classic". No apology either. She dropped our check quickly and did not ask if she could get us anything else. We sat there for 20 minutes and she finally came back and said "do you need change or anything?". Service standards are supposed to be much higher, in fact I know they are higher for the Marriott and this was so disappointing I will not return for breakfast/brunch ever.

We continued to sit there and chat and after paying $70 for three people to eat a Much less than mediocre meal we were not even refilled on coffee or water.

While this may be a fluke and it's New Years Day and as my friend mentioned, they were probably hung over, well, the customer does not suffer because the service staff or kitchen or manager (which was nowhere in sight) is not feeling 100% because they partied....

I had gone before for brunch and was so excited to have a great meal with my best friend whom I never see, I picked Carneros because I always love it. I am so disappointed and feel totally ripped off. I will always go back for apps or dinner because Danny works nights and he makes sure everything is always awesome. The whole staff and management in general seem to have a better handle on things. Morning time on the other hand is completely unorganized, scattered and obviously okay with serving cold, half done, over cooked and dried out food.